So, there are several reasons for me taking this venture/endeavor on. On one hand, constant conversations with a couple of Black industry peers kept raising some of the issues that some Black people are encountering when they have an interest in entering the wine industry; either they don't understand what it actually is versus the wine trade or they have no good sources of reference information. Now it's not that the information doesn't exist, but often people will not look in the right place or towards the right people, and then you have the fact that not many people want to really reveal many things that one needs to know beforehand, if they reveal them at all.
On the other hand, I am constantly talking to wine producers [and their export staffs] regarding the realities of the U.S. wine market and their potential within it. The images that they have is very different from the reality that it is, with them not understanding the fluctuations in it from city to city, state to state and region to region. They often don't understand the basics of the "American" wine consumer, nor the history of our country and how that affects the potential success of their offerings (their wines). I have frustratingly had to explain to producers with great products that they would sell a lot more if people knew more about wine in general, and if those handling the selling of wines actually reached out to African American audiences. Just like a battle plan, one must understand the battlefield, the history of the people there, and those who comprise their forces, and this is not being done at all.
Summarily, I give people the realness, what we call the "no-shitter" in the military on each part of this.
So, depending upon whom you ask, you might get a different answer about me. I jokingly call myself the Most Hated Black Man in the Wine Industry by Black folks who think that they are in the wine industry. And I am quite fine with that as well. See, ever since the murder of George Floyd, there was a reckoning in the U.S.-centered world of wine regarding the lack of inclusion of Black people, and so a lot of people were given attention and more Black people discovered an interest in wine. There is/was nothing wrong with that, but almost none of the people being given attention were actually in the wine industry (production, import, distribution); at best, most were in the wine trade (sommeliers are hospitality professionals). And so there was a lot of bad information being bandied about, and some less-than-honorable things being done, and I spoke out on it. Some folks had an issue but again, those folks were never in a position where their fortunes would be affected by bad apples. And for many of the people who shot up, none of us in the business ever really came across them before.
Now, it's been five years since the death of Mr. Floyd, and we can actually see that so many people who threw their hands in the ring never did anything, and so many different initiatives based on moving Black folks forward in wine have yielded very few tangible results. Having people get WSET certifications hasn't changed power dynamics nor the amount of Black people with equity. There are essentially the same amount of Black folks involved in producing wine, importing wine, or distributing wine as there were before that date. More Black-owned brands utilizing off-the-shelf wines from a handful of California bulk producers [or an occasionaly vineyard/producer in another state] who continually try to pawn their wares as luxury/premium wines is not the answer; while some people are impressed [who are not in the industry], it doesn't help those of us doing things by the book as it closes the door to new entrants. I mean, for distributors if everytime they are being approached by a Black-owned brand, they can simply do a Public COLA lookup and find the real worth of the wines and know that the math ain't mathing, then they are less likely to entertain the next Black-owned brand approaching them at all.
The difference is that some folks think that they can play along and get a position, and some might, but most won't, which is the important thing to know. A trip here and there doesn't admit you into the industry, and at some point you have to do the work.
And of course the flip side is that I have helped a number of Black people who've wanted to get into the wine industry, as long as they were genuine. As the saying goes, "The brighter the picture, the darker the negative," then the reverse must also be true as well. Ha ha ha
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